True-blue Northern California greets the new president with a Bronx cheer

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Students, faculty and families from Bridge Academy Elementary School march along International Boulevard in protest to the inauguration of Donald Trump on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 in Oakland, Calif. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Protestors march down 1st St. during the anti-Trump "Rise Up For Justice" rally at in downtown San Jose, Calif., Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Patrick Tehan/Bay Area News Group)

Susan Karlins, of Campbell, reflects during an Inauguration Day teach-in event at Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

Members of the Republican Club of Rossmoor attend a presidential inauguration viewing party at the senior adult community in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)

Fran Cavenaugh cheers as she watches the presidential inauguration with members of the Republican Club of Rossmoor at the senior adult community in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)

Protestors march from Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park during the anti-Trump "Rise Up For Justice" rally at in downtown San Jose, Calif., Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Patrick Tehan/Bay Area News Group)

A group of protesters heads to city hall for a rally in protest of the new Trump administration in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017.(Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

Father Jon Pedigo welcomes and offers works of hope at an Inauguration Day teach-in event at Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

Emma Shlaes, of San Francisco, participates in a activity to express your feelings at an Inauguration Day teach-in event at Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

Patti Farris leads the singing of "God Bless America" to conclude a presidential inauguration viewing party for members of the Republican Club of Rossmoor at the senior adult community in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)

Republican Club of Rossmoor president Ed Manning, left, chats with Bill Hartmann after watching the presidential inauguration at the senior adult community in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)

Students, faculty and families from Bridge Academy Elementary School march along International Boulevard in protest to the inauguration of Donald Trump on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 in Oakland, Calif. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Kindergarteners, from left, Milo Barnett, Larry Orozco, and Elmer Berrera dance to the beat of a drum as they wait to begin their march at Bridge Academy Elementary School on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 in Oakland, Calif. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

A Trump supporter David Kristoffersen of Santa Clara watches the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation, at The Mini Gourmet in San Jose on Jan. 20, 2017. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

People wrote down their concerns and posted them at an Inauguration Day teach-in event at Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

Anuj Dave, left, of San Jose, and Rohail Khoushab, right, of Cupertino, take part in a immigrants rights workshop in the pantry area during an Inauguration Day teach-in event at Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

A Trump supporter Bob Jackson of San Jose gives a thumbs up as he watches the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation, at The Mini Gourmet in San Jose on Jan. 20, 2017. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

As Donald Trump prepares to be inaugurated, protestors march in front of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, January 20, 2017 (Laura Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Fran Cavenaugh wears her Trump shirt as she attends a presidential inauguration viewing party for members of the Republican Club of Rossmoor at the senior adult community in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)

Students, faculty and families from Bridge Academy Elementary School march along International Boulevard in protest to the inauguration of Donald Trump on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 in Oakland, Calif. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Protestors gather in Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park during the anti-Trump "Rise Up For Justice" rally at in downtown San Jose, Calif., Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Patrick Tehan/Bay Area News Group)

A group of protesters heads to city hall for a rally in protest of the new Trump administration in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017.(Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

Protestors march from Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park during the anti-Trump "Rise Up For Justice" rally at in downtown San Jose, Calif., Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Patrick Tehan/Bay Area News Group)

From left, Jim Parsons, his wife Pam Parsons and Gayla Manning applaud as they watch the presidential inauguration with members of the Republican Club of Rossmoor at the senior adult community in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)

From left to right: Members of Crosswalk Community Church in Sunnyvale, Dan Leitner, Paul Thesing, Dale Stump and Les Sites watch the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation, at The Mini Gourmet in San Jose on Jan. 20, 2017. Leitner, Thesing and Sites say they are excited about the Trump Presidency. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Joe Osborn, music teacher, right, gets the students, faculty and families from Bridge Academy Elementary School ready to march with the beat of a drum as they protest the inauguration of Donald Trump on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 in Oakland, Calif. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

A group of protesters heads to city hall for a rally in protest of the new Trump administration in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017.(Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

A Bernie Sanders supporter Scott Meade of San Jose, right, talks with Eric Mladineo of San Jose as the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation, at The Mini Gourmet in San Jose on Jan. 20, 2017. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Students, faculty and families from Bridge Academy Elementary School march along International Boulevard in protest to the inauguration of Donald Trump on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 in Oakland, Calif. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Students, faculty and families from Bridge Academy Elementary School march along International Boulevard in protest to the inauguration of Donald Trump on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 in Oakland, Calif. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Demonstrators leave the Town Clock to march down Pacific Avenue chanting 'our streets,' as they protest the inauguration of President Trump on Friday. (Dan Coyro -- Santa Cruz Sentinel)

Participants of "Bridge Together Golden Gate" dance while holding hands across the Golden Gate Bridge in an expression of unity, and love in San Francisco, Calif. Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (James Cacciatore/Special to the Marin Independent Journal)

Protesters with flags and signs gather in Frank Ogawa Plaza for a rally in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. A large group of protesters marched through downtown Oakland to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

A large group of Oakland police officers on bicycles watch protesters march in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. A large group of protesters marched through downtown Oakland to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

A bystander in a store watches the hundreds of protesters pass by during a march in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. A large group of protesters marched through downtown Oakland to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

The crowd reacts to speakers during a rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza preceding the march in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. A large group of protesters marched through downtown Oakland to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

The crowd reacts to speakers during a rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza preceding the march in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. A large group of protesters marched through downtown Oakland to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

A pedestrian walks past boarded windows of a building on 19th and Harrison streets in case protests against the inauguration of Donald Trump turn violent in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Anti-Donald Trump protestors advance along Broadway through downtown Oakland on Jan. 20, 2017, the same day that Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Oakland Police officers in motorcycles escort protesters along Broadway during a protest against the inauguration of Donald Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

A man is arrested by Oakland Police officers during a protest against the inauguration of Donald Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

A man is arrested by Oakland Police officers during a protest against the inauguration of Donald Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Oakland Police officers in motorcycles guard the Oakland City Hall during a protest against the inauguration of Donald Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

A line of police officers block 14th Street at Clay Street in downtown Oakland as anti-Donald Trump protestors advance their march through downtown on the day Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Demonstrators carry a makeshift casket with flowers on top of an American flag along Broadway during a protest against the inauguration of Donald Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. The demonstrators named it "Requiem of a Dream". (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Oakland Police officers in motorcycles escort protesters along Broadway and 8th Street during a protest against the inauguration of Donald Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Protesters argue with Oakland Police officers after man was arrested during a protest against the inauguration of Donald Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Oakland Police officers in motorcycles guard the Oakland City Hall during a protest against the inauguration of Donald Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Julia Tello, of Oakland, left, and Claire Haug, of Berkeley, right, hold up signs at Harrison and 8th Streets during a march against the U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. President Trump was sworn in today as the 45th president of the United Sates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Police from a line blocking protesters at Harrison and 8th Streets during a march against the U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. President Trump was sworn in today as the 45th president of the United Sates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

A group from the Graduate Theological Union at UC Berkeley protest along Broadway during a march against the U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. President Trump was sworn in today as the 45th president of the United Sates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Antoinette Gaggero, of Oakland, with Open Circle - Families United for Justice carries a small likeness of U.S. President Donald J. Trump during a march against Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. President Trump was sworn in today as the 45th president of the United Sates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Antoinette Gaggero, of Oakland, with Open Circle - Families United for Justice carries a small likeness of U.S. President Donald J. Trump during a march against Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. President Trump was sworn in today as the 45th president of the United Sates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Protesters face off against a police line at 14th and Clay Street during a march against the U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. President Trump was sworn in today as the 45th president of the United Sates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

A protester holds a sign during a rally against the U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. President Trump was sworn in today as the 45th president of the United Sates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Protesters hold signs during a rally against the U.S. President Donald J. Trump at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. President Trump was sworn in today as the 45th president of the United Sates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

A protester faces off with a police line at 14th and Clay Streets during a march against the U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. President Trump was sworn in today as the 45th president of the United Sates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

A paper mache head of the likeness of U.S. President Donald J. Trump lies torn on 14th Street during a march against Trump in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. President Trump was sworn in today as the 45th president of the United Sates. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

As Donald Trump took control of the White House on Friday, the true-blue residents of the San Francisco Bay Area braced for a hard landing, unleashing a barrage of protests, sit-ins, teach-ins and marches that many see as an antidote to their coming four-year funk.

While out-numbered Trump supporters in the redder reaches of the region celebrated with champagne, the new president’s detractors pulled out all the protest stops, despite another nasty winter storm. Their voices rang out from the federal building in San Jose to the streets of Oakland and the Caltrain tracks in San Francisco, topped off with thousands joining hands on the Golden Gate Bridge, turning the iconic span into an 8,981-foot-long stage of civil discontent.

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“After talking with my students I felt like the best use of my day would be out of the classroom protesting here on their behalf,” Berkeley High math teacher Masha Albrecht said from a rally in downtown Oakland. “I have Muslim students, undocumented students. They were feeling a lot of anxiety, and so am I. I felt like today was a day to be disruptive for me and for them.”

Given the Bay Area’s legendary Democratic DNA — over the last four and a half decades the nine-county region voted for Republican presidential candidates only twice — Friday’s mass nose-holding was hardly a surprise. Protesters blocked Caltrain’s tracks at 16th Street in San Francisco, halting service for more than two hours. A group calling for 120 hours of action dubbed #HellNawguration said the shutdown was part of its demonstrations of Wells Fargo, Uber, the Israeli Consulate and the Trump-owned skyscraper at 555 California St.

Protests throughout the Bay Area could clog bus and rail service and tie up streets well into Saturday, when “Women’s Marches” take place from Walnut Creek to Santa Cruz.

As Donald Trump prepares to be inaugurated, protesters march in front of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, January 20, 2017 (Laura Oda/Bay Area News Group)

While they didn’t take to the streets, plenty of Bay Area residents celebrated Friday’s power shift in Washington. Members of the Republicans of Rossmoor club clinked champagne glasses at the senior community in Walnut Creek as Trump was sworn in.

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The atmosphere was buoyant among the group of about 40 people who cheered on Trump’s speech, particularly when he spoke of fighting “radical Islamic terrorism.”

“It’s an exciting day for the country,” said Ed Manning, president of the group, which meets regularly and has about 450 members. Manning said he was disappointed that some Bay Area politicians boycotted the inauguration. “There will be plenty of time for arguing issues in the future.”

But much of the Bay Area was eager to get started. Demonstrations ranged from large-scale — more than 3,000 gathered on the Golden Gate Bridge — to more modest efforts like the Sacred Heart Community Service’s teach-in and “community action” training in San Jose. The event included hands-on training in “bystander intervention and solidarity with vulnerable communities.”

“We could’ve easily stayed home,” the Rev. Jon Pedigo of the Diocese of San Jose said, “but we did an act of resistance by getting up. We really are doing nothing short of saving democracy.”

Rosalie Eskew, 77, born and raised in San Jose, summed up how many felt: “I didn’t want to stay (at home) for the inauguration. It’s just upsetting to me. I feel alive. I feel like I’m where I belong, really.”

In Oakland, students, parents and educators marched by the hundreds as gestures of “equality and justice for all” at schools like Bridges Academy, a diverse kindergarten-to-fifth-grade school in East Oakland.

Students at Bridges Academy prepare to march as Donald Trump is inaugurated, in Oakland on Friday. (Laura Oda/Bay Area News Group)

At noon, about 300 people from the International Community School in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood marched down the puddle-filled sidewalks along International Boulevard.

Third-grader Joshua Escobar said he didn’t think he could watch the inauguration, because it would make him cry. After the election, he wrote a letter to Trump begging him not to build a wall and separate families.

“It’s scary and I just pray to God we’re going to be fine,” Joshua’s mother, Sonia Escobar, said as she marched with her son and his 7-year-old sister, Allison. “‘It’s going to be OK,’ I keep telling my kids. I have to believe that. I don’t want to be scared for the next four years.”

In San Francisco, hundreds gathered near the Ferry Building and police shut down Market Street for a march. By late morning, police had arrested 29 people, including 11 who shut down Caltrain, and others outside of Uber’s headquarters on Market Street.

“We did anticipate people backing out and protesting, but not on our tracks,” Caltrain spokeswoman Tasha Bartholomew said.

Across the bay, only 10 percent of longshoremen showed up for work Friday in a work slowdown targeted at Trump. Port spokesman Mike Zampa said only about 35 workers showed up by the 8 a.m. starting time. “There were not enough people to work,” he said.

While many of the protests were high-profile, in-your-face affairs, many people fed up with the presidential campaign and turned off by Trump simply turned off their TVs. Some sought to head off conflict.

“We’ve had fights or almost fights over football games, so we just try not to put anything on that may incite anything,” said Michael Hill-Jackson, spokesman for the Palo Alto VA health care system.

San Jose general contractor Ned McIver set his TV to record something else during the inauguration: a survival show called “Naked and Afraid.”

“It’s a stupid show,” said McIver, 57, who posted his protest on his Facebook page, “but I thought if I could get a grass-roots movement to watch, it could unhinge our dictator-in-chief.”

“When I think of the people who have held the office of president,” he said, “from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln, people of that ilk, to think that this guy will take that office — pardon me, but quite frankly it makes me want to vomit.”

But Naweed Tahmas, a 20-year-old student at UC Berkeley, said he welcomed the new president because “our middle class is being gutted. We are building a middle class in Asia while losing one in the U.S.”

“I loved his speech this morning,” he said. “He made it clear that America should be first because for far too long we have been putting other countries ahead of ourselves.”

Trump supporter Bob Jackson of San Jose watches the inauguration from the Mini Gourmet in San Jose. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Others cheered on Trump while watching the big screen at the Mini Gourmet restaurant in San Jose. Bob Jackson, a retired postal worker, pulled out his phone to show a countdown clock reading “Time left until Obama leaves office.”

At that moment, it read: 18 minutes, 57 seconds.

“I’m excited to see it’s finally happening and we’ll be moving forward,” said Jackson, 65, of San Jose.

Behind the sleek black glass doors of San Jose’s Casino M8trix, card players focused more on Texas Hold’em than the big screens televising the pomp and circumstance. They didn’t even look up when a casino employee yelled out “Hey!! Where’s Hillary when you need her?”

Kishia Glasper, a 38-year-old home care worker, had been watching at home before she stopped by to pick up her fried rice order from the casino’s Lotus Cafe. She said she just couldn’t watch anymore.

“I’m sure he’s not that bad,” she said, “but the way he acts, it’s like, this can’t be real. Is this the president of the United States of America? I keep thinking someone is going to say, ‘Just kidding! You’ve been punked! Or that it’s April Fool’s Day — in January.”’

Patrick May is an award-winning writer for the Bay Area News Group working with the business desk as a general assignment reporter. Over his 34 years in daily newspapers, he has traveled overseas and around the nation, covering wars and natural disasters, writing both breaking news stories and human-interest features. He has won numerous national and regional writing awards during his years as a reporter, 17 of them spent at the Miami Herald.

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